Title: Monitoring and protecting company and brand reputation on social networks: when sites are not enough

Authors: Kip Becker; Helena Nobre; Vijay Kanabar

Addresses: Administrative Sciences Department, Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02129, USA ' Administrative Sciences Department, Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02129, USA ' Administrative Sciences Department, Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02129, USA

Abstract: Companies are increasingly recognising that social networks are a force to contend with in reputation management. There are numerous examples of how single voices using viral systems have, in a matter of days, reached out to millions about poor service or flawed products. Managing social networks is, however, not without cost and thus one could reasonably assume that larger companies would have better defined strategies for social network reputation management than smaller ones. The paper explores this assumption and offers an integrity management model. The social network activities of 99 different size companies (33 small, 33 medium and 33 Large) were examined and results supported that larger companies are slightly more responsive but smaller firms seem to respond more quickly. Of interest was the number of firms (of all sizes) without social media sites. There appears to be a general lack of a strategic framework for thinking about communities as most firms in the study were not monitoring, integrating and leveraging social media adequately.

Keywords: social networks; reputation management; brand image; Facebook; Twitter; reputation monitoring; reputation protection; company reputation; brand reputation; integrity management; social media.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2013.053075

Global Business and Economics Review, 2013 Vol.15 No.2/3, pp.293 - 308

Published online: 30 Oct 2013 *

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